Myths and Magic of Melanesia

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Professor Colin De’Ath and Mary R. Mennis were both doing research in the Madang area in the 1970s. While Professor Colin was working on the Gogol area researching the effects of the Trans-Gogol Timber Project on the local villagers, Mary Mennis was doing research into the culture of the coastal Madang people and changes that had occurred over the years. At that time, they collaborated and published »Merging Men and Nature: Myths of Melanesia«. The original version was published in Oral History in 1981, and recently it was decided to republish these myths to make them available to a wider readership. In this latest edition, a few modifications have been made to make the stories clearer. Also some myths and oral traditions have been added.
The myths presented in this book are from Madang, Manus Island, the Sepik area, the Highlands, New Britain and the Port Moresby area of Papua New Guinea as well as two from Irian Jaya. They are grouped under categories like Origin of Pottery, Two Brother Myths; Myths about mountains and Origin Myths for ease of comparison.

Book data

Sub-title

Based on Stories and Myths of Papua New Guinea

Author

,

ISBN

Series Title

Binding

Paperback

Publication Date

August 23, 2021

No. of Pages

216

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About the author

Mary Mennis has a Masters Degree in History from UPNG and a Masters Degree in Social Science from James Cook University. She was an Honorary Research Assistant at Queensland University for many years. Her research in Madang is also found in the book: “A Potted History of Madang: Traditional Culture and Change on the North coast of Papua New Guinea” published in 2007. During their time in Madang, Mary developed a deep appreciation of the culture of the village people and her family attended many gatherings and feasts.

Professor Colin De’Ath was born in New Zealand and later moved to Canada where he studied at the Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Waterloo, Ontario. In the 1970s he volunteered with the Canadian Overseas Services and became a citizen of Papua New Guinea. He studied the influence of the Jant timber industry over the culture of the Gogol people near Madang PNG and wrote extensively on this subject. Colin subsequently worked with the Manus government and later moved to Thailand where he worked with the Overseas Education Department.

Table Of Contents

New Guinea Communications                                                                             v
List of figures                                                                                                           xv
Introduction                                                                                                             xxi
01. TWO BROTHER LEGENDS AND TRADING                                            1
Two Brother Myths in Papua New Guinea ………………………………………………… 1
The Kilibob and Manup myth. ………………………………………………………………….. 2
Kilibob and Manup—another version ………………………………………………………. 3
The Motu trading myth of Taurama and Kiaure
(Mataio Taboro, Port Moresby) ………………………………………………………………… 7
A longer version of the Motu two brother myth ……………………………………….. 8
Why Taurama’s Waters Churn—another version
of this myth(To Vagi) ……………………………………………………………………………….. 9
Edai Siabo, founder of the hiri system and the lakatoi …………………………….. 10
Conclusions about the Trading Myths …………………………………………………….. 14
A Trading myth from the Trobriand Islands ……………………………………………. 14
02.  BIRTH ORDER AND TWO BROTHER LEGENDS                                        17
The Morning Star: Story about ten brothers
(Wantok 56, November 15, 1972, page 14)………………………………………………. 17
Two Brothers and Breadfruit …………………………………………………………………… 18
Two Brothers Killed Masalai Kuakua Wantok
(November 2, 1995, page 19)…………………………………………………………………… 21
Two Brothers and an Old Lady ……………………………………………………………….. 23
Two Brothers and the Eagle …………………………………………………………………….. 24
To Kabinina and To Purgo (East New Britain) ………………………………………… 25
The Two Brothers of East New Britain …………………………………………………….. 26
People and Language ………………………………………………………………………………. 27
To Kabinana and To Purgo make a drum and a canoe …………………………….. 27
To Kabinana and To Purgo made a garden ……………………………………………… 28
The Clearing …………………………………………………………………………………………… 29
The first Garden ……………………………………………………………………………………… 29
03 . CLAY POTS                                                                                                                             33
Honpain, who taught Yabob women to make pots ………………………………….. 34
Where Did Pots Come From? …………………………………………………………………. 38
The Origin of Clay Pots in the Port Moresby Area (Motu) ………………………. 39
A Bereina Pot Story (Bereina is to the west of Port Moresby) ………………….. 41
Comparison of the Pot Myths amongst the Motu on the south
coast and the Bel people on the north coast…………………………………………….. 42
Kolimang, the First Woman to Make Clay Pots and Plates in Aibom ………. 44
The Creation of Clay Pots in Milne Bay …………………………………………………… 45
04.   ORIGIN LEGENDS                                                                                                                 49
Where Kambarumba Village came from …………………………………………………. 50
Myth of Kambarumba …………………………………………………………………………….. 51
Yomba Island ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 51
Dadok Tamsen of Bagabag Island (2014) ………………………………………………… 52
Maia Awak of Bilbil Village …………………………………………………………………….. 52
Bek of Riwo and Yomba Island ……………………………………………………………….. 53
The meeting between an Austronesian Speaker and a bush man …………….. 54
The First Steel Knife in a Southern Highlands Village……………………………… 56
Origin myth of Bilbil Island ……………………………………………………………………. 57
Where the People of West Manus came from ………………………………………….. 58
Why we cannot eat Pig Meat …………………………………………………………………… 60
The Story of Dum who played the flute …………………………………………………… 60
The tapa-cloth beater who turned into a person ……………………………………… 62
How a Tribe was begun in the Mid-Whagi area ………………………………………. 63
The Tribe That Came From a Breadfruit …………………………………………………. 64
Mandarmaker …………………………………………………………………………………………. 65
The Moor People who live on an island near Biak, Irian Jaya…………………… 67
Where Did Local Languages Come From?
(Wantok 176, June 25, 1977, page 19) ……………………………………………………… 69
Where Did Languages Originate?
(Wantok 55, November 1, 1972, page 5) ………………………………………………….. 70
The first coconut near Lemakot ………………………………………………………………. 71
Myths about the origins of sago ………………………………………………………………. 73
A Story about Sago …………………………………………………………………………………. 74
Another story about the Origin of Sago (saksak) …………………………………….. 75
Why Men and Women Do Equal Sago Work ………………………………………….. 78
05.  MOUNTAINS                                                                                                                      79
How the Hills were formed in Madang …………………………………………………… 79
A Legend of Two Mountains …………………………………………………………………… 81
A Taro Created Two Mountains
(Wantok 339, November 1, 1980, page 19)………………………………………………. 81
Tears Became Mountains
(Wantok 740, September 8–14, 1988, page 18) ………………………………………… 83
The Two Women Who Became Mountains
(Wantok 344, December 6, 1980, page 19) ………………………………………………………… 85
Where Did Mount Giluwe Come From?
(Wantok 149, October 2, 1976, page 14)………………………………………………….. 86
How Mount Ialibu and Mount Giluwe Separated ……………………………………. 86
Story of Lake Kasu at the base of Mt. Giluwe in
the Highlands of PNG …………………………………………………………………………….. 87
How Two Men Changed into Rocks ……………………………………………………….. 89
Walini Turned into Stone
(Wantok 591, October 12, 1985, page 22) ……………………………………………….. 90
How the Mountains, Singul and Mungal came to be formed …………………… 91
The Stone on Mount Haundulga……………………………………………………………… 92
06. EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES                                                                      93
Myth of Biim a Sorcerer ………………………………………………………………………….. 93
Earthquakes and the End of the World ……………………………………………………. 94
The Motuans and Earthquakes ……………………………………………………………….. 95
How People Came to the Duke of York Islands ……………………………………….. 95
A Traditional Explanation of volcanoes ………………………………………………….. 96
Myth of Tavurvur ……………………………………………………………………………………. 96
Another explanation of volcanoes …………………………………………………………… 98
07. VILLAGE: ORAL TRADITIONS AND
REAL-LIFE STORIES                                                                                                                 99
Story of Sibor: The Village That is no More ……………………………………………100
The Coils of the Tabux–Matupit Island–Rabaul ……………………………………..102
A love story from Yabob Village, Madang ………………………………………………104
An orphan Child of the Jungle who had no village …………………………………106
Garawada, a Jungle woman and her son …………………………………………………109
Myth from Mt. Hagen ……………………………………………………………………………110
Morevaya and Bukuruvi—an unhappy story from the Trobriands …………112
08. THE SEA AND ITS INHABITANTS                                                                               115
The Fish at Riwo …………………………………………………………………………………….117
The First Dugong, a Myth from Hanuabada Village ……………………………….118
Where Dugongs Come From …………………………………………………………………120
A fish called kidukidu a Pari legend ……………………………………………………….122
Varimoro, the Magic Fish of the Motu People ………………………………………..123
A Fisherman and His Wives …………………………………………………………………..123
A Dolphin Story …………………………………………………………………………………….126
The Legend of Two Blind Men ……………………………………………………………….128
09.  MASALAI OR GHOSTS                                                                                                          131
The Conch shell trumpet that Scared the Masalai ………………………………….132
Peiten the Whale Masalai ………………………………………………………………………133
The Pig Masalai ……………………………………………………………………………………..134
Drusi, the Eel Masalai ……………………………………………………………………………134
Fipi and the Disobedient Woman …………………………………………………………..135
The Blue Snow ……………………………………………………………………………………….137
The Tabaran and the Possum …………………………………………………………………138
The Masalai of Lep Island (Wantok 429, August 7, 1982, page 44) ………….139
10.  ANIMAL LEGENDS                                                                                                    143
How the Cassowary (muruk) was tricked by the Hornbill (kokomo) ………143
The muruk and the fowl …………………………………………………………………………144
The Cassowary and the Crocodile ………………………………………………………….146
The Selfish Woman ………………………………………………………………………………..147
The Lizard Guardian spirit from Yupay ………………………………………………….148
The Wallaby and the Cuscus ………………………………………………………………….149
The Two Pigeons ……………………………………………………………………………………150
Why the Wallaby has Short Front Legs. ………………………………………………….150
The Turtle and the Wallaby…………………………………………………………………….151
The Eel …………………………………………………………………………………………………..152
Why the Frog Can Swim ………………………………………………………………………..153
11. SNAKE STORIES                                                                                                              155
My Ancestor, the Snake Man …………………………………………………………………155
The Boy and the Snake …………………………………………………………………………..155
The Story of a snake and the Massim Canoes …………………………………………156
Two Brothers and a Snake ……………………………………………………………………..157
The Marita Fruit (Breadfruit) and the Snake ………………………………………….158
The Forbidden Island of Snakes ……………………………………………………………..160
The Snake and the Pig ……………………………………………………………………………161
The Python…………………………………………………………………………………………….162
Why Pythons stopped Eating Men …………………………………………………………163
How the Snake Lost Its Hair
(Wantok 52, September 20, 1972, pages 7, 10)………………………………………..164
12. MAGIC FOR CULTURAL ITEMS                                                                                167
The Meziab…………………………………………………………………………………………….167
Meziab myth of the first gourds and flutes ……………………………………………..168
Meziab myth of the bullroarers ………………………………………………………………168
Secret Language …………………………………………………………………………………….170
More Magic ……………………………………………………………………………………………171
Weather Magic ………………………………………………………………………………………172
Wind magic …………………………………………………………………………………………..174
Magic for sickness ………………………………………………………………………………….176
Bel and Motu Magic ………………………………………………………………………………178
Motu Weather Magic ……………………………………………………………………………..179
Magic in the Trobriands and Madang …………………………………………………….181
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………… 185

About the Series

The aim is to provide a conduit for the publication of studies on the Island of New Guinea, with its two established political divisions, but will also include other associated patterns of islands.
It will enable contributions from new knowledge workers—with their dissertations—and from established scholars. As there are numerous scholars who would like better coverage of the areas in which they have explored—as a tribute to the people they have worked with—as well as local scholars who understand the importance of their unique areas. It is felt that the approaches being trialed in the visual anthropology part of the series as area studies will bring a wider attention to the remarkable nature of the island.
The first volumes will be on modes of communication: oral history and folklore, and the emergence of a local literature. While the representation of all disciplines is welcome, comparative and whole island studies would be of great interest as well. For this, collaborative works or edited volumes may be needed.
It will allow for academic publications of a more preliminary kind—rather than exhaustive monographs, which are becoming more and more impossible to produce.
Where is the knowledge we have lost?